A 50-year-old man who barricaded himself inside a trailer at the Lincoln Place Mobile Home Park near Riverton Tuesday decided to surrender when he got a look at the sheriff’s Army surplus armored truck, authorities said.

Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson said the MRAP, which stands for mine resistant ambush protected vehicle, was designed to protect soldiers for mines and improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan and Iraq. Tuesday evening’s standoff at the mobile home park on North Oaklane Road in Springfield was the first time the sheriff’s office had used the vehicle.

“We brought it right up to the front of his mobile home and shined the lights inside the home,” Williamson said. “Apparently, the image of the MRAP was intimidating enough that he came out and surrendered. It’s exactly what we wanted to happen.”

Deputies were called to the mobile home park between about 6 p.m. A neighbor reported that a man had been outside the mobile home with a gun. When deputies arrived, the man locked himself inside the home. He could be seen at the door, and reportedly pointed the handgun at deputies, Williamson said.

Officers from Springfield, Riverton and other agencies were called to the mobile home park to help deputies.

“We cordoned off the area,” Williamson said. “If the guy would have fired a round, it could have gone several blocks or through another mobile home. It was a dangerous situation.”

Hostage negotiators tried to make phone contact, but they were unsuccessful. The man surrendered about 9:40 p.m. After a check of the mobile home, deputies determined that he had been alone inside the trailer.

The man was taken to a Springfield hospital for a psychological evaluation.

Williamson said there are no guns on the MRAP. It can be used to transport the county’s tactical team into a dangerous situation, or it can be used to remove hostages or injured people from an area where shots are being fired.

“The armor is unbelievable. The windows are about an inch-and-a-half thick,” Williamson said.

The sheriff's office received the used vehicle in May for $6,400, the cost to transport it from Texas.